Clever technology is not enough: ITS must solve customers’ problems, warn experts

ITS professionals must ensure they are responding to customer needs and not simply being blinded by the possibilities of technology, warn ITS experts. This was among the main messages from ITS (UK)’s 2018 summit this week. “Don’t deploy technology for technology’s sake – that’s just having a toy,” said Kirk Steudle, former boss of Michigan Department of Transportation, in his keynote speech at the event in Bristol, UK. “Just because the technology is clever, it doesn’t mean it’s any use,” warned ITS (
November 28, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
ITS professionals must ensure they are responding to customer needs and not simply being blinded by the possibilities of technology, warn ITS experts.


This was among the main messages from ITS (UK)’s 2018 summit this week. “Don’t deploy technology for technology’s sake – that’s just having a toy,” said Kirk Steudle, former boss of 1688 Michigan Department of Transportation, in his keynote speech at the event in Bristol, UK.

“Just because the technology is clever, it doesn’t mean it’s any use,” warned ITS (UK) president Steve Norris. He urged delegates to think: “What are the challenges we are actually solving?”

The former UK transport minister also suggested that some form of road user charging in the UK was inevitable to raise revenue as the government’s tax-take from fuel duty continues to decline, in large part due to more fuel-efficient cars.

“Receipts from fuel duty are falling off a cliff,” he said. “It’s pretty illogical that the last great free public utility should be the roads.”

• A full report of the ITS (UK) 2018 summit will appear in ITS International, January/February 2019

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Fuel for Thought: The what, why and how of motoring taxation
    May 15, 2012
    The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has highlighted the dilemma facing many governments – motoring tax income set to fall even as traffic rises - in an analysis of the decline in the amount of revenue collect from fuel duty and VED (vehicle excise duty) in the UK. The collapse in income from motoring taxation will be caused by increasingly fuel efficient petrol and diesel cars, and the predicted large-scale take-up of electric vehicles.
    Read More
  • MaaS Market Conference examines transportation’s new options
    January 9, 2018
    Second MaaS Market conference highlights pilots and fledgling services from around the world. That a revolution in the provision of transport services is underway is no longer in doubt. The only uncertainties are the precise form that revolution will take; who will be the winners and losers; and how long it will be before it takes root. Driven by passionate advocates of Mobility as a Service or – MaaS – a wide range of projects and different approaches are being developed worldwide. It is that move from
    Read More
  • Pivot Power: 'We need to rethink the EV customer experience'
    October 10, 2018
    Electric vehicles will increasingly become a key part of the mobility mix but charging infrastructure is currently patchy. Adam Hill talks to Matt Allen of Pivot Power about disruption, horses, slot machines – and the importance of customer experience. Electric vehicles (EVs) – including buses, taxis and cars for individual and shared use – are already a common sight on our roads. They are not yet ubiquitous. But that will come. There will be around 30 million electric cars in the world by 2030 (as they
    Read More
  • IBTTA’s Jones sees turbulent times and a bright future for tolling
    November 10, 2017
    Colin Sowman talks to IBTTA’s Pat Jones about the future of tolling in a fast-changing world. Pat Jones may have been executive director and CEO of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) for 15 years but in his words: “Never before have I seen so much change coming so fast in the transportation and tolling industry.” Amidst all this change, tolling companies are asked to provide funding for roadway building or improvements which will be repaid for over, say, a 30-year concess
    Read More

Highlighted Content